The Cleveland Park Listserv posts recommendations nearly every day. List members write in to recommend contractors, plumbers, electricians, doctors, therapists, fitness instructors, yoga teachers, tutors, landscapers, tree trimmers, housekeepers, nannies, and much, much more. Yet, every so often we (the moderators) decline to publish a recommendation submitted by a list member. Sometimes when this happens, we get a note from the list member asking why the submitted recommendation did not appear. So that we don't have to send out individual notes explaining each time about our list's policies on recommendations, we have put our criteria for publishing recommendations on this page.
All recommendations on the Cleveland Park Listserv need to meet the following requirements.
- Recommendations need to be based on the poster's own personal experience with the recommended company or service. We do not publish secondhand or hearsay recommendations.
- Recommendations need to be signed at the END by the person who submits it.
- Recommendations should not include any "I don't know" lines. If you're not sure whether the recommended company or service can do the job, you should check with the company first and report what you find out in your message to the list. You also need to be sure of the recommended company's name and contact information. While it's not always necessary to provide all forms of contact information for a company or individual, we won't post a recommendation that says, "I can't remember the name of the store but it's on Wisconsin near the Starbucks," or "I don't have the phone number but you could look it up."
- Recommendations need to say more than "I agree" or "I second that recommendation" in response to a previous post. A recommendation needs to convey new information about the experience of working with the recommended company or service. For the same reason we don't post recommendations that are simply a company name and phone number.
- Recommendations need to be completely spontaneous. If the service person or contractor has asked you to send in a message about that company, the message cannot be posted. This rule helps to prevent shilling.
- Recommendations need to be current. If it's been a few years since you've used a service or visited a store, you should leave the subject to those with more up-to-date experience.
- Recommendations should not come too frequently from the same poster. The CP Listserv wants recommendations to come from a broad variety of voices. Our general list rules also prohibit "overposting" so that discussion isn't dominated by just a few frequent posters.
- Recommendations need to be responsive to the question that's been asked. Let's say that someone has queried: "Where can I buy a room air conditioner and get someone to install it?" We would not post, for example, the following response: "My recommendation is not to use window air conditioners at all. They're energy-wasters and harm the environment. A good cross-breeze from opened windows and a good ceiling fan are all you really need."
- Recommendations need to be free of hype and should not read like an ad for the service or business being recommended. Any message that the moderators consider too promotional in tone will be deleted.
- Recommendations for work of a highly specialized nature or queries seeking advice on an obscure topic, which in the judgment of the moderators is likely to be of interest to only a handful of list members, should go off-list just to the person who requested the information.
- Recommendations from posters who have an interest in a business, service or company must disclose the nature of the connection. So, for example, if you are married to a landscape architect, and you are responding to a query about landscape design, you must tell list members that the recommended professional is your spouse. If we learn that you are making a recommendations but hiding your connection to the person or company you have recommended, you may be barred from future posting or banned from the listserv entirely. We also ask that these self-interested recommendations be free of hype or ad-like language, and we also limit the frequency of on-list responses of this sort. Please visit our advertising policy page for all the details about writing messages in support of a business or service in which you have an interest.
- Out-of-the-blue recommendations (that is, those submitted not in response to a query from a list member) will be subjected to more scrutiny than those that are responsive to a question. Here's an example of an out-of-the-blue recommendation that's perfectly fine: "We just had a delightful evening at [name of neighborhood restaurant]. The owner went out of his way to accommodate us, finding us a quiet table that was comfortable for an elderly, hearing-impaired relative, and helping us choose items that met her dietary restrictions..." Here's a similar message that's not fine: "There are great deals at [neighborhood restaurant] all this week! Kids eat free!" It's not always easy to say exactly why some out-of-the-blue recommendations are fine when others are not. However, we will say this: If you can imagine yourself speaking the words of your message to a friend of yours, then your recommendation will probably be posted on the CP listserv. If it isn't something you'd say in normal conversation, then it's probably not the sort of thing we would run on this list.
- Recommendations that in the judgment of the moderators seem odd or implausible may not be posted on the listserv. For example, we have to wonder what's going on when the same list member sends in
recommendations for six different housekeepers over a period of a few weeks. How many housekeepers can someone use in that time?
Whenever something makes us start wondering about how the
recommendation came about and who's behind it, we may be inclined not
to publish it on the listserv.
A few additional points to keep in mind:
We do allow a few categories of service people to self-recommend or seek work on the listserv. Teenagers, college students, and other part-timers are allowed to offer their babysitting, yardwork, errand-running, tutoring, or other in-home services from time to time. We also allow full-time housecleaners, nannies, and other caregivers to post occasionally about their availability for hire. Our advertising policy page has all the fine print about what's considered a commercial advertisement and what isn't.
Some of these considerations are rather subjective, and different moderators may reach different conclusions about similar recommendations. Please DON''T write to the moderators to point out inconsistencies about which recommendations are published and which are not! Moderating a listserv is an art, not a science. It's also an all-volunteer job.
Please don't expect the moderators to write to you about a recommendation that did not appear. We receive and delete far too many messages a day to explain each individual posting decision.
You can learn more about how the Cleveland Park Listserv works by reading the complete list rules.
Enjoy the list!
Sincerely,
The Moderators: Bill, Peggy, Jeanne, Christina, Laura, Andrew, and Ariel the AI bot
PS. As you can see, the Cleveland Park Listserv is a very busy place in cyberspace, and takes a lot of time on the part of the volunteer moderators. You are welcome to show your support by making a donation. The moderators appreciate the good karma that comes from knowing that Listserv members appreciate all the hard work that goes into running the Cleveland Park Listserv:
Useful Links:
Cleveland Park Listserv Homepage
Cleveland Park Frequently Asked Questions Page
Cleveland Park Commercial Advertising Policy
Cleveland Park Ad Check Page (posting rules for housing ads, for-sale notices, etc.)